RTÉ News on Two

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RTÉ News on Two is RTÉ's late evening news programme. The program is broadcast Monday-Thursday on the Irish RTÉ Two TV channel. It does not have a regular time slot, but is usually broadcast at some point between 22:45 and 23:30. It runs for 22 minutes.

RTÉ News on Two takes a different agenda to other RTÉ News programmes. Its content is customised for a younger audience, and presenters and journalists tend to use more informal language on the programme. Since October 2006 the bulletin has been presented by Eileen Whelan, following the departure of Anthony Murnane who was with the programme from the beginning. John O'Driscoll is the programme Editor.

Since March 2007 RTÉ News on Two is now streamed live on the internet and archive shows are available to view through the RTÉ website. On Fridays an extended late summary on RTÉ One is broadcast instead of RTÉ News on Two. There are no weekend news programmes on RTÉ Two other than summaries.

[edit] History

The programme began as "Network News" in 1988. Until 1997, it was a regular RTÉ News bulletin. In 1997, as part of RTÉ's revamp of Network 2 as "N2", the programme was completely changed and renamed "News 2". It was now broadcast from a different (virtual) studio, and used hi-tech graphics and presentation devices. Presenters would present either standing up or on a stool, rather from behind than a desk. Male newsreaders did not necessarily (and still do not) wear ties or jackets. All "RTÉ News" signoffs and branding were removed.

In 2003, the programme was restored to the regular RTÉ News look and branding (as "RTÉ News on Two"), and now broadcasts from the regular RTÉ News studio, but many of the innovations of News 2 and the younger agenda remain. For example, the presenter usually stands to introduce the first story.